


Serenade

by Shadow_Chaser



Series: K: Interludes [5]
Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Anna adoption referenced, Fushimi is like a prickly hedgehog, Fushimi works well with Akiyama - just don't call them friends, Gen, Intel Division is like eager little minions, Kusanagi is thoughtfully observant, Post-ROK
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2020-12-09 16:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20997608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_Chaser/pseuds/Shadow_Chaser
Summary: Follows "Intermezzo" - Roughly five weeks since the destruction of the Slate. The dismantling of the servers and investigation of JUNGLE continues. The Red Clan discovers the last person they expect to find in their territory and Kusanagi fears a repeat of history. Meanwhile, the shadow of a threat starts to make itself known.





	1. Chapter 1

“Oh good! You're here!”

Sawano Sakura's voice was far too cheerful at this ungodly hour, Fushimi decided as he tried to keep his eyes open. It was five in the god-awful morning. He gulped down the rest of his coffee and tossed the tin into the recycling bin. He had fallen asleep at his desk, surrounded by the ever-growing pile of reports and papers he was stacking all over the desk. Some of it had started to spill onto the ground in smaller piles. Akiyama and Benzai had been all but been permanently assigned a new table, having been unable to work for the last few weeks because of the files he had been pulling and collating.

Most of the pile was Intelligence related, but many of it was just files he had already read and sorted, but was too lazy or busy to return to General Affairs office or elsewhere. He wondered if he could make Doumyoji do it – or Hidaka since the man had been trying to get him to talk since he and Enomoto inferred that he had lost his powers as a Clansmen.

It seemed that particular knowledge had spread like wildfire since the arrests and purge of the malcontents from Sceptre 4. However, Fushimi knew it was bound to happen sooner or later – and he _had_ used the knowledge to lure out Munakata's enemies. It was one of the things that he barely tolerated about Sceptre 4. If HOMRA was like the equivalent of a close-knit family that seemed almost uncontrollable by its head, Sceptre 4 was like a bunch of gossip-happy middle schoolers – at least the principal had his head on straight...most of the time.

Fushimi still thought that a man bringing his hobbies into work was odd. He still wanted to introduce _his_ hobby of throwing knives into the Captain's hobbies. Pincushioned puzzle pieces had a certain alliterative appeal. Also, it was not the most egregious thing regarding Sceptre 4. That title belonged to Awashima and her red bean paste obsession.

“So, so,” Sakura practically bounced on the balls of her feet as she bounded up to him. Her eyes looked quite crazed, but a quick glance at her desk showed a multitude of coffee tins. Ah...that explained her manic state and cheerfulness at this early hour. “You got my message-”

He clicked his tongue and glared at her, but she did not seem to see his dark look or rather was too buzzed from the coffee to even acknowledge it. She gestured for him to come over to her desk. He followed her, wondering if he could probably snag an unopened coffee tin from her desk without her knowledge. She seemed like the person who might keep an eye on all coffee – her lifeblood apparently.

“So!” She stopped at her desk and enlarged her hardlight monitor. A slightly crossed expression appeared on her face before she shot a glare towards the desk next to her. “Miyuki! Wake up!” She lashed out with a leg and kicked the desk, startling the Intelligence agent from the small mound of blankets that had been piled on him.

“Wha-what...oh! Fushimi-san, sorry sir!” Sakimoto Miyuki immediately shed the blankets and snapped away. “Oh, good, you're here.”

“If neither of you start explaining, I'm leaving,” he replied with pointed looks at them as he crossed his arms. “I don't make it a fucking habit of waking up at 5am unless absolutely necessary.”

“Sorry sir!” Sakura chirped – still way too cheerful – and brought up a few screens.

Miyuki yawned. “We've been looking into the JUNGLE related things, but Yamaguchi flagged this yesterday regarding power drains and the like from Research Division's data. They're still analyzing it, but I went ahead and copied their reports to put together my own set.”

Fushimi suppressed the urge to tell him it was good work. Miyuki usually was too impatient to wait for official results and tended to put together his own analysis whenever he was not fielding reports or doing anything else. It would explain the mound of blankets and why his desk looked like it had been perpetually inhabited for the last few days. The man probably stayed overnight to work.

“Found this interesting tidbit,” Miyuki said just as Sakura enlarged one of the screens she had. “Looks like the knives you coated in the suppressant grenade worked because the Beta-class level Strains that we initially scanned aren't really Beta-class level.”

“How do you figure?”

“I was able to take the blood samples that had been sent to Ogawa Saya and find out that there was the initial spike that read them as Beta-class, but that there was an instantaneous drain on their powers that rendered them a high level Common-class.”

Fushimi frowned and absently rubbed his lower lip. “When they used their powers...”

“Yes,” Sakura replied. “Seems like it. We weren't able to do anything about the grenade back then, but looks like coating your knives with them worked because they were not Beta-class anymore.”

“Has Research Division recorded such a fast change before?”

“Yamaguchi and Seiryu are currently looking into since they're Research's liaisons, but were not sure.”

“You have your own thoughts,” Fushimi stated, looking at the Intelligence personnel.

Miyuki rubbed the back of his head, making his already messy hair even messier from sleeping at his desk. “Well...when we questioned both Miyamoto Hikaru and his sister Rin, both of them did say that they only received their powers on the day the Slate had become completely active. Before then, both were apparently ordinary citizens.”

“And compared with Clansmen or Strain who might have had their powers for even longer...” Fushimi finished quietly, his thoughts moving quickly.

“Yes sir,” Miyuki replied nodding. “Research hasn't really gotten around to analyzing that and I'm not sure if I really want to step on this since it is Yamaguchi and Seriyu's-”

“Whatever, the Captain needs to know this,” Fushimi replied, “at this point, who gives a shit about assignments. What matters is that if there is a possibility that we can potentially wait out the newer Strains versus the ones that have had their powers for longer, then it would make everyone's lives a hell of a lot easier.”

“Sir. Then I think the answer is that Research hasn't seen anything like this before, but I think the Slate was acting like a cut power source. It expended all of its energies, a continuous flow, but once that source is cut off, anything new didn't get the 'full charge' so to speak – like a battery – but anything that's been there long enough has. So in the case of the Miyamoto siblings, they were expending the charge of the battery, an instantaneous draining of power that rendered them from Beta-class down to high-level Common-class. That's how you were able to subdue them with the substance. However, I'm not sure if the sleeping on it, or resting would work with my analysis...” Miyuki replied. It was sound analysis – a bit crude, but sound.

“Submit it,” he ordered.

Miyuki smiled and sat back down onto the pile of blankets and started to type, his fingers flying across his keyboard.

“Where's the new version of the grenade?” Fushimi turned to Sakura who childishly pouted. He glared at her and she resumed her happy smile.

“Spoilsport,” she groused quietly under her breath before digging under a pile of manila folders and pulled out a cylindrical grenade and handed it over to him.

It looked quite ordinary, like any tear gas grenade or even the previous version. There was nothing to differentiate between the two except for a small white strip near the pin of the grenade. “Chiba Kaori in the Research Division's weapons analysis programs finished it just about an hour ago. She gave it to me, but told me that there hasn't been any live testing done. I'm having her copy me on her brief to the Captain...but with this new information on the whole Strain thing...”

“Send your findings and comparisons to the Captain. We'll find a use for it,” Fushimi hefted the grenade in his hand. A dark thought cross his mind. Perhaps he could accidentally toss it into HOMRA territory just to see if it really worked against HOMRA...

The only reason why he did not truly consider taking that step was because if Anna was caught up in it. It would be quite unfair if she was deprived of her current Clansmen as her protectors – for however long.

“Where are we on the JUNGLE app and the traffic regarding potential members hording points?”

Sakura winced. “Unfortunately might be a dead end. I haven't been able to trace much more.”

Fushimi only stared at her, a little disappointed, but she immediately bowed towards him.

“I'll try to see what I can find, I'm sorry sir,” she said and he clicked his tongue before waving a hand at her, the one with the grenade in it.

“Do what you will,” he replied before he left. As he took the elevators back up to the main floor, he knew his next steps. There was only so much one could rely on information from sources when he needed to contact the sources themselves. He headed out of the building and towards the dorms.

Quickly changing, he grabbed a quick energy bar to stave off the hunger that followed the can of coffee he had drank, he checked his complement of knives and headed out of the Sceptre 4. He took a local bus to the edges of Shizume and started to make his rounds. It was still early in the morning that he knew many members of HOMRA were either not awake, nursing hangovers, or elsewhere whenever they were not hanging out at the bar.

A surprising number of the core HOMRA members had day jobs or were part-timers. That was something he had not expected when he had joined. Granted he and Misaki had been living off of the inherited money he had after leaving his home during the year and half he had been with HOMRA, he readily spent his time programming or messing with coding – all the while waiting hand and foot on whatever Suoh Mikoto or Kusanagi Izumo needed done.

More often than not it was helping Kusanagi with hunting down information or getting updates. On more than one occasion, it was buying food to supply the bar's menu. But all of that free time allowed him to get to know people who had information and also cultivate his own network of informants.

Money certainly helped grease a lot of palms too. And Fushimi had made it known that he cross-referenced the information given to him to eliminate any falsehoods or information brokers' attempts to swindle him out of their hard-earned money. It was also why he had been able to persuade many of his own contacts to continue giving him information when he joined Sceptre 4. He had spun the benefit as getting double the money they wanted, but also receiving a certain amount of protection regarding said information if they were also to give the same to HOMRA if they wished. There was no hard feelings in the business transaction – the only time they would earn his ire was if the information was dead wrong.

Then it was just a matter of teaching them a lesson they would never forget.

The occasional finger or ear he had sliced off with his knives was never collected then. Just left on the ground for some stray animal to pick up and eat. He never killed any contact he had that gave him wrong information. A dead informant was useless in the long run and just served to make anyone afraid and _not_ give correct information or create resentment. He just let them know that he did not wish to use their services or information anymore.

His network also was a great help in the month before he became J-rank. They had been able to help him and Hirasaka gain the needed points to rise up quickly. They also provided a place for him to occasionally sleep and stay with minimal fuss – though always with unspoken questions. He never told them about what he was doing except to get information from them.

It was the same with how he treated the others of Intelligence – except he knew he was not allowed to cut any idiot's ear or finger off. That particular paperwork would have even given him headaches. And then the subsequent Human Resources problem...too much of a bureaucratic pain at that point.

That was what the Captain was there for.

Fushimi jammed his hands into the pocket of his jacket as he walked into the internet cafe.

“Welcome!” The proprietor was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and grey at the temples. “We've got high-speed internet here as well as access to applications and gaming platforms. We have a variety of games and the privacy of headsets and screens. Our rooms in the back offer more intimate settings-”

“The two for one special,” Fushimi jerked his head towards the last row of available computers and the man nodded.

“Of course, young sir.” The proprietor's smile did not falter as he gestured for him to follow. “Please, follow me. That is the best special I have! Would you like to purchase additional items with that?”

“Just what you have,” he replied.

He was shown to an ordinary looking seat and the man bowed a little before gesturing towards the screen. “Our current applications available have a wide range of of users,” the man started conversationally, his voice lowering just a little. There was perhaps one or two others in the whole internet cafe, but nonetheless, he kept it like he was still trying to explain things.

“Including the recent JUNGLE app?” Fushimi asked.

“Yes. Though since the recent events, the settings of the application have been unstable. I am unsure whether those servers are continually maintained or otherwise. Some of my best users have been here, but I have not seen them in the last week.”

“What other applications are popular now?” Fushimi asked.

“Nothing so much. The Idol one is average and there is the revival Tamagachi one that has been taking the western world by storm. It has gained some minor traction here, but my users have found it quite primitive. JUNGLE is probably your best bet.”

“Got it,” Fushimi turned and started to type on the computer. The proprietor straightened and left him to his work, returning to the front of the store.

It did not take long for Fushimi to find the hidden partition and folders on this particular computer. It was a dead drop for some of his contacts, and he found four files waiting for him. All were stamped with dates after the destruction of the Slate – the most recent only actually last night. He downloaded all but the most recent one – noting that the file size was perhaps just a couple of kilobytes – a text message.

He opened it and read it quickly before purging it with a quick couple of keystrokes. Closing out of the partition, he returned the computer back to its normal settings and left, handing over some yen for his time and service.

Fushimi made his way a few blocks north and east of the internet cafe where the text message told him to meet. He knew two blocks away was the headquarters of HOMRA and so was acutely aware of all of the pedestrians that walked around the area. It was more crowded now, the early morning giving way to daily commuters, children heading to school, people walking their dogs along with parents and caretakers taking their smaller children out for morning walks.

He blended easily in with the morning crowd and slipped into the alleyway to wait for his contact. The wait was not long as a girl dressed in a local high school uniform came skipping down – almost without a care in the world. However, her steps slowed and stopped as she approached.

“Figured you show sooner or later. Got some news regarding JUNGLE,” the girl commented before holding out her PDA.

Fushimi obliged and she did a quick transfer before returning the favor with a small roll of cash. It did not look like much, the roll was quite small because of the very high denominations. She smiled and left, skipping back out again. He glanced down at the PDA with the information he had just received.

It was the girl's personal data profile on the JUNGLE app – showing a full user history and records of each transaction, each chat, battles and missions engaged in. Essentially the girl had just given him free access to her life on the JUNGLE app, and if he really wanted, a way for him to potentially misuse the information.

However, he knew that she was a particular hacker of sort, one who regularly disappeared and changed names on whim. He did not know her real age, but the fact that she was still posing as a high school girl and with the looks she had, was probably not too far fetched in being around the same age as he was. He met her by chance – and it was after he and Misaki had first moved in together. That was when he had cut off all contact with the woman who birthed him and the girl helped him to disappear off of the grid – so to speak and allow him to gain custody and access to the accounts _that_ man had left behind when he died.

She had not asked much in terms of money back then – making him suspicious, but seemed to imply that she was working with him for her own ends and means. In a way, it reminded him a bit of Hirasaka in hindsight. Their relationship was more of mutual acquaintances between them and she was one of his informants and he was one to occasionally warn her away from HOMRA and yakuza activities before upgrading it to local police activities when he joined Sceptre 4.

Her name on the JUNGLE app this time was Nanahara Ami. He opened her profile and scanned her logs as his feet absently traced his route back to the bus stop. However, he unexpectedly paused and blinked, suddenly aware that he was not moving anymore. Fushimi looked up from his PDA to realize that his body's automatic response had planted him on the corner of the cross streets that was directly across from Bar HOMRA.

He suddenly swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat. After all these years...he wondered with some dark amusement, he was still inclined to wander towards the bar. He supposed he couldn't help it because of the positioning of some of his informants. It was rather annoying and he clicked his tongue softly. He remembered Misaki's offer, but ruthlessly pushed the cheerful phantom voice out of his head.

It was still too painful, too awkward for him to even consider stepping into the bar at this time. Too many memories, both the good and bad. His skin prickled at the uncomfortable feeling that washed through him. After a few minutes, he realized he was still standing like an idiot at the corner, rooted to just staring at the doors of the closed bar. Clicking his tongue louder, he forced himself to move away. He did not need to wallow in the past.

He buried his head back into his PDA and continued to read up on the profile he was given.


	2. Chapter 2

In Bar HOMRA, the former Third and Red King Kushina Anna looked up and stared out of the windows, seemingly sensing something as the three red marbles she had been dowsing with continued to roll around her gathered hands. Her eyes grew a little soft and the corner of her normally downturned lips perked up in a small smile.

“Anna?” Kusanagi prodded gently, but did not move from where he was taking the polished glasses and placing them in their proper sections. He was content to let his own curiosity as to what Anna might have sensed outside sate his own.

“Nothing,” she replied, the faint smile still on her lips. “Perhaps a lingering memory of wishes and wants...”

“Good ones I take it?”

“And bad ones, but...perhaps one day he can move past them.” She turned to widen her smile at him and he chuckled quietly.

He had a feeling whom had passed by, even with Anna's vague words. After all, he had introduced a certain now-Blue Clansmen to the network he had established. It had been amazing watching that network grow, then with some breaking away and following the Blues. Some of their contacts though, were mutual and those were the ones he paid rather generously to keep a healthful eye on the young man that he once had tried to pick as his successor.

The fact that Fushimi Saruhiko had been wandering around Shizume might have once caused some alarm – especially to a certain beanie-covered redhead – but Kusanagi was content. To him, it meant there was something worth looking into – whether it was for the Blues benefit or even the Reds. He would have to tap his own contacts later to find the cause. Or perhaps when he met Seri for lunch before their usual trek to the Silver Clan's island high school territory.

Since the destruction of the Slate, they both had come to a mutual agreement to consult Adolf K. Weismann regarding his knowledge. The First and Silver King had returned to his original body a few days after leaving his temporary one. That was when he and Seri had been introduced to the high school student Hieda Toru and learned he was once a Green Clansmen, but abandoned by the Clan after his body was stolen by the Colorless King and then inhabited by Adolf's consciousness. Though the Silver King could not formally make him a Clansmen with the lack of power and ability, he had been readily adopted by the two other Silver Clansmen, Yatogami Kuroh and Neko as a true Clansman.

The past few weeks had imparted both him and Seri with knowledge regarding the founding of the Slate, its usage, the early experiments with mice, the history behind its activation and some of the theoretical knowledge behind it. However, Weismann needed time to study the notes and interpret a lot of what his sister Claudia had come up with. Even then, because of his long years of eternal life, his memory of those days were quite hazy. It was the Black Dog who had come up with a solution for a guided meditation.

But those were done every few days, the emotional toll hard on the Silver King as he recalled memories of both happier and sadder times. While Yatogami was able to help focus, he wasn't able to truly anchor the memories and so some times the knowledge that was imparted was impressive, but more often than not, it was few and far in between.

At least that was the impression Kusanagi was left with after witnessing three of those sessions so far. It was still a lot of work, but he couldn't help the small flare of impatience that clawed at him. He wanted to know, wanted to understand its impacts. Even his own trip to Europe for the last six months didn't give him a good sense – not to mention the multitude of political red tape he had to go through because he was a foreigner. He suspected he could have gotten the information in two months instead of six if he was a resident or national of the country.

The sudden stop of the soothing rolling sound of Anna's marbles made him glance down at them. She took looked before a soft smile curved her lips. “Ah...there he is,” she murmured quietly.

“Anna?” he inquired quietly as he finished hanging the last of the wine glasses by their stems above him.

“Izumo, can you prepare the spare bedroom before you leave for the island high school?”

“Of course, you're bringing home a guest?” Kusanagi managed to not replace the word guest with 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend.' He applauded himself silently for keeping his own emotions about that sort of thing in check. However, he also knew that Anna was wise beyond her years, even for her twelve years of age. If she had not already, she perhaps would start to show interest in companions. But even if she didn't show any interest at all, it was still a little terrifying to realize that Anna was technically at the age where a lot of hormonal things came into play.

“Yes, though I am hoping Misaki would help,” Anna replied, a small frown on her face.

“Ah,” Kusanagi studied his ward and charge. He had been listed as Mikoto's beneficiary when his best friend died. However, it was not Mikoto that had been Anna's guardian – _he_ was the one who had formally adopted her, knowing the courts would instantly frown down upon the fact that his best friend technically did not have a job nor a permanent address. Kusanagi Izumo, however, had both and was technically very well off for a girl like Kushina Anna to be adopted into.

It was only a legal formality, but now, even after a year and a few months since Mikoto's death, the weight of it felt quite heavy. It was never a burden, but Kusanagi had felt fear stirring in him on the day that he would eventually lose his powers and not be able to protect Anna as best as he could.

It was something Seri had told him – though currently he still felt the fires that had been bequeathed to him by Mikoto and renewed by Anna – burning strongly. He and Seri probably had the raw strength to outlast some of the other Clansmen when it came to power, but even then, it would eventually fade and disappear. He pushed the thought out of his mind as he reached over and started to place the champagne flutes into the hanging rack.

“I sense hesitation there, King,” he teased lightly.

“Misaki will not like the person I have found,” Anna's frown grew a little deeper.

“But he will listen to you,” he reminded her. “You are his King.”

Her frown disappeared, but she did not look happy. “I am Kushina Anna.”

“You are still the active Third and Red King, according to the Slate's Wish,” he said. That incident had been quite...interesting to say the least. He still refused to talk about it with anyone except for perhaps Anna who understood him the best.

She was silent before heaving a small sigh and stood up. She smoothed out her dress as Kusanagi set the flute he had been holding down onto the table behind the bar and reached over to the phone. He pressed a button on the side, calling to the downstairs basement rooms where Yata Misaki now inhabited.

It had once been shared by Tatara and Mikoto. Kusanagi did not mind that the vanguard of HOMRA stayed in it, knowing that the man was dealing with the grief and loss of his King and friend in his own way. The only thing he truly appreciated was that Yata actually paid money each month – random amounts – but nonetheless, knew that he could not stay there as freely as the former Red King and his partner could have.

Anna and Kusanagi shared the upper floors, three bedrooms, a common space with a small kitchen and two full bathrooms. Anna, naturally got the master bedroom with wide windows and a view of the city block. They completely doted on their HOMRA Princess, even when she occasionally spent more time down in the basement sleeping near Mikoto or elsewhere.

“...Eh?” Yata's voice sounded rough, but there were sounds of clinking coming down the line.

“Anna is asking for you to accompany her somewhere. Can you be upstairs in a few minutes so not to keep her waiting?”

“All right,” the younger man hastily cleared his throat and the sounds of a sink and perhaps ceramic-ware being washed was heard. “Give me a few minutes. I'll be up.”

Kusanagi smiled even though Yata couldn't see and hung up. He continued his preparations as he watched Anna gather her marbles, slipping two of them into her dress' pockets while the other one was held to her eye. She stared at him through the marble. One would have called it rude, or perhaps shied away, but Kusanagi was never one to demur – boldly confronting things or even going against trends and assumptions. Tatara had called him the ambushing and hidden fire no one would ever see coming. Kusanagi had agreed with that sentiment until Fushimi Saruhiko came along and gave even more credence to the title of ambushing fire – especially with his knife skills. Kusanagi was content with just hidden fire instead. After all, no one would expect a lighter to be used as a weapon or a primer.

“Your warm red is holding steady,” Anna pronounced quietly as she lowered the marble.

“Thank you, Anna,” Kusanagi appreciated her frankness after he had reported to her everything Seri was sharing with him along with what he had been discovering with the Silver Clan. It seemed so far, HOMRA members were holding somewhat steady, their territory not under direct threat except for a couple of newly-created Strains that had acted up in the days after the Slate's destruction. That had been dealt with, but one of their lower Clansmen had completely lost his powers.

Everyone was on edge after that, hesitant to use powers or even do anything remotely fire-related. Kusanagi had come up with a plan to assuage their worries by telling them to use their powers sparingly, but do not let anyone else know. They were to just use the name HOMRA and muscle to ensure nothing happened in their territories during their patrols or when they were out and about. That ensured the Red Clan was kept strong and their powers were still robust enough.

From Seri, he knew the Blue Clansmen were not so lucky. Sceptre 4 _had_ to and was obligated to respond to every Strain-related incident and use their powers. It was why their research scientists were hard at work, testing, questioning and trying to figure out how bad a drain was on a Clansmen or if there was a pattern to it.

There was also something Seri was not telling him, but he would not pry. It was not sexism about a woman and her secrets, but rather he knew that when she was ready, or perhaps if she got permission, she would share whatever secret she was keeping with him.

The pounding of stairs drew Kusanagi out of his thoughts as he saw Yata run up, skateboard in hand. He looked cleaned up and ready. “Anna,” he greeted before nodding once at Kusanagi. “Kusanagi-san.”

“G'morning Yata,” he drawled out politely.

“Here, forgot to return this,” Yata set several rotary tools and the safety glasses with magnification on them onto the top of the bar table. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Kusanagi appreciated the return of his tools, especially the magnifying goggles. Yata had been quite secretive in his use of them, but Kusanagi had heard the small sounds of the power tools and small sparks and flashes in the last week and a half. It had concluded a few days ago, but what had come of it was not known. A cursory glance in the basement yielded nothing amiss and so he suspected perhaps Yata had been modifying his bo staff.

As Yata turned around, Kusanagi saw that his prediction was correct. The now hung deceptively on Yata's back, through a holster strap. It was smaller, compact, and had something that looked like an activation key of sorts.

“It looks quite normal, Yata,” he commented and the redhead stared at him for a second before glancing down to where he was looking.

“Oh, this, well...figured because of everything...well...” He scratched the back of his head, making the tufts of hair sticking out fuzz a little from the static electricity generated. “Maybe trying to keep a lower profile and stuff. No Gold King around to alter people's memories and stuff...”

His mumbling devolved and he cleared his throat roughly. There was a hint of pink in his cheeks and Kusanagi had a feeling it was not for his questions. Perhaps Yata had also modified something besides his bo staff. Kusanagi did want to say it was somewhat like a certain Blue Clansmen to whom Yata always reacted to no matter when they were in each other's orbits, but refrained from speaking his mind. He had noticed that the two seem well on their way to reconciliation, a friendlier, but still tense atmosphere whenever the two were near each other.

The whole mess with the Slate and the Wish reinforced that observation. Both Yata and Fushimi had spent the nights first greeting each other with a quick one-two combo, but always teaming up against the Green Clan with the ease and familiarity of fighting alongside one another. Yata also had a habit of disappearing during the days and Kusanagi wondered if it was to talk to his best friend some more. Still, whatever seemed to lighten Yata's mood, he would leave the Red Clansman be.

“That's very thoughtful of you,” he replied before nodding to the two of them. “I'll see the two of you later. The room will be prepared.”

“Thank you,” Anna bowed her head slightly before leaving, Yata following with a puzzled look.

As the door rung close, Kusanagi sighed and lit up a cigarette absently. It was good that HOMRA's powers were stable at the moment, but only he and Anna knew the truth – that eventually, the power that they all had, would disappear. What would happen to HOMRA then?

* * *

It was an hour later that Anna and Misaki encountered – or rather found – Gojo Sukuna in an alleyway near one of the main roads on the edges of Shizume Town. The young teen was still clearly nursing his broken arm, ragged and dirty. It was clear he needed medical attention and was evident that he was living on the streets since the Green Clan's base was destroyed. Yata had been ordered to buy food and bring enough for the three of them as Anna sat next to the young teen and tried to convince him to return to Bar HOMRA where he would be safe.

It was also then that they learned that the J-rank members of the Green Clan, the exception being Fushimi, were all wanted by Sceptre 4. Yata had been uneasy at the prospect of harboring a wanted fugitive, memories of the whole thing with HOMRA sheltering the Minato twins coming to the forefront, but Anna would not be dissuaded.

She eventually convinced the teen to return with them – with a very stern warning for Yata to not rile up Sukuna. Yata had been a little put out by the order, ready to defend himself, but it was his King who spoke to him and chastised, he understood. Still, he could not help but feel rather uneasy...it was almost as if he was being deceptive in a way to Fushimi by keeping such a secret from him.

He reconciled himself to thinking that perhaps Anna had a plan of sorts. After all, she was the Third and Red King.


	3. Chapter 3

Fushimi didn't really have time to sit down and do a complete analysis of his findings when he returned to the office. Awashima had sent him and Akiyama to a corporate office that apparently had connections to the Captain to do some investigation regarding JUNGLE servers. Fuse had taken Akiyama's place with Benzai in the site excavation shifts, still nursing his injuries, but with orders for light duty. Though it had been two weeks since that particular incident, it finally hit home to all of Sceptre 4 that their former durability under the Blue King's powers was lessening as time went on and injuries on the job were not going to heal as quickly as before.

Fuse had taken the stares and whispers with the stoicism of a soldier back on duty, but Fushimi could clearly see that the older man was struggling to cope. He did not offer any platitudes or nonsensical words of encouragement.

Meanwhile, Research Division had pounced on this new information like ravenous hungry critters and it was only by chance that Fushimi had learned Fuse had been offered the same deal as he had – daily examinations and testing – except this time regarding durability and endurance. They both had passed each other in the hallway once in the sub-levels of Research Division.

Meanwhile, Enomoto had been the one to attempt to cheer up and get Fuse talking as did Hidaka and the others. The older man had taken the support he received with grace and dignity. But never once did either of them offer the same to each other – too much old history and animosity between the two of them. Also for the fact that Fushimi ignored every one of Enomoto or Hidaka's attempts to talk with him regarding what they the rumor mill might have inferred.

“The CEO's name is Saito Akihito. Work history places him as a financial genius of sorts. But he started his own company a few years ago and its been consulting several other firms. He also has private clients for brokerage and financial related matters, mostly financial risk analysis,” Akiyama brief him as Fushimi drove to the address listed.

The man made a noise of curiosity. “Not sure how it relates to the Captain.”

“We're investigating,” Fushimi cut that particular train of thought off. There was no use regarding rumors and speculation and he did not want to engage in such idle banter with Akiyama.

“Ah,” Akiyama's fingers moved as he scrolled through the data, “Apparently it was noted that he was one of the CEOs in attendance at the JUNGLE launch party.”

Fushimi glanced over. “I don't recall him in the audience.” He had studied the list and did not see a man nor the face that Akiyama's PDA was projecting at the party.

“Maybe he was hiding behind one of those mask things?” There was some hesitancy in the fourth-in-command's voice and Fushimi clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was almost as if the older man was attempting to coddle him or walk eggshells around his long-term undercover mission.

He turned back and continued to drive. Silence filled the car for a few minutes before Fushimi clicked his tongue irritably again.

“...What.”

It wasn't as if questions were off limits for each member of the Special Police Force. Hell, even he asked questions if it was relevant to cases that each of them were assigned to. For some odd reason, every time JUNGLE was mentioned – especially when the others were talking about the site excavation with those coming off or going onto the shift – they lowered their voices whenever he was around.

He had read Awashima's report on the masked ball, including her words that had – at that time – confirmed him as a traitor to Sceptre 4 at that time. Her reports were rather succinct and did not contain any speculation, only cold, hard facts determined by her observations. His own report regarding his mission into JUNGLE had been equally succinct. A more analytical one had been published privately and marked for the Captain's eyes only. His debriefing by the Captain had sealed it.

“Nothing,” Akiyama replied a little too quickly. A brief awkward pause followed before the other man cleared his throat roughly and continued to scroll down the info packet. Fushimi rolled his eyes.

“Looks like Saito-san says that he had his men install and integrate their IT infrastructure per the prime minister's directives after signing the agreement with JUNGLE. They were in the midst of installation when the Slate was destroyed and are reporting that they are unable to return to their previous infrastructure or uninstall it.”

Fushimi focused on the road, but mulled over the information. “Doesn't seem to make sense from a hardware point of view. JUNGLE is a software application that is compatible with all hardware. It's how it appears on all PDAs and personal computers if needed. Any company or IT Department would have backups and just do a complete wipe.”

Akiyama pressed his lips together in a frown. “Seems the CEO or someone relaying the information to him is saying that the application is...alive. Utilizing their current resources. He's wondering if could be a Strain who's keeping the infrastructure intact for JUNGLE – though he really doesn't know why. He's questioned all of the IT personnel, but none could provide him a reasonable answer.”

“The easiest way would be to demand a list of clients and work our way from there with the Yuishiki system,” Fushimi murmured, “but knowing how companies like to keep their clientele private, we should be using that as a last resort.”

“That's a good point,” Akiyama nodded. Fushimi was not surprised that the former JSDF member picked up on their shared hesitancy at using the powerful system. With the lack of the Gold King's abilities to wipe the memories of the populace and keep them almost unaware of Strains and the like, Sceptre 4's policies and status as a government entity would come under even more scrutiny by formerly unaware branches. This also included any and every thing they did – especially with Prime Minister Samukawa's public announcement that they would be handling all things related to Strains, Slate and JUNGLE.

In essence having the authority again to police the Strains and Clans, was beneficial, but now, with an ever growing awareness in the populace, their actions would be heavily scrutinized.

“Have the excavation teams dug to the levels of the JUNGLE servers yet?” Fushimi suddenly asked.

“No, but we're getting close according to the blueprints,” Akiyama replied, “hopefully in a few days or so. The Grey King was very strategic with the charges.”

“We should also think that he had time to melt the servers,” Fushimi stated, but caught a wincing look from the other man. “What.”

“If he was able to do such a thing in his state, then he far more powerful than any of us considered. I talked to a couple of the Intelligence analysts in the aftermath, and they were saying that his Weismann levels were on the same level if not a little more than the Captain's.”

“But since he wasn't suffering from a potential Damocles Down, you're saying that he could have easily surpassed the Captain and taken him down?” Fushimi slid an assessing gaze over his fellow Sceptre 4 member.

Akiyama grimaced. “I don't-”

“Probably true,” Fushimi interrupted. “Blind loyalty doesn't get you anywhere in life.” He did not have to look to know that there was a rather disconcerting expression on the other man's face. The conversation could have ended right there as Fushimi pulled up to the company's visitor parking lots and reversed the car into the space.

However, as he turned the ignition off he kept his gaze forward. “The Grey King was ordered to distract the Captain, not kill him. The Green King wanted to most likely force the Damocles Down, to what end, I am not sure, but seemed most prudent given that the Slate had been released and Strains were being spontaneously born, it would have been in line with his attempt to have those with the powers to then fight among themselves for dominance by their own hand. Getting rid of Kings in the vicinity would give those who just been given powers a chance at his attempts to balance the scales so to speak.”

He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door. “Chaos was always the Green King's goal. Any form of it. Should the Blue King die in the midst of it, it wouldn't have mattered. To the Green Clan and their goals, it meant that he was not meant to survive in the world where those who had power survived by their own reckoning.”

He stepped out and closed it, leaving Akiyama in the car as he headed towards the entrance. He only had taken a few steps before the sound of passenger's side door opening and closing was heard and Akiyama's hurried footsteps caught up to his. They entered the front plaza.

“Welcome to Saito Financial, how many we assist you?” A rather young looking man, more than likely just barely out of college, greeted them with a bow.

“Hello,” Akiyama's face was utterly pleasant, betraying none of whatever turmoil or feelings he had from their conversation as he approached the information desk. Fushimi noted with some dark amusement that the security guards around the lobby had started and were staring at them with some concern, eyes on their swords.

“We're from Sceptre 4. I am Officer Akiyama Himori and this is Officer Fushimi Saruhiko. We were asked by the CEO, Saito Akihito-san to conduct an investigation into the JUNGLE application infrastructure your company has recently installed?”

“Ah,” the man nodded. “Please give me a second. Do you have a pre-existing appointment?”

“Unfortunately not,” Akiyama kept the pleasant smile on his face as Fushimi clicked his tongue softly in annoyance behind him.

He really disliked the whole private company, appointments thing. It reminded him too painfully of- He cut that particular thought off as he crossed his arms and looked around, absently tapping the toe of his boot.

“Let me call up to Saito-san's secretary and see if he is available. If you both will, please take a seat at the couches over there. Someone will be with you shortly. If you feel the need for refreshment, we have a selection of coffee, teas and fruit infused water near the elevators. Restrooms are beyond that. We however, ask that you not approach the elevators or metal detectors at the moment,” the man nodded with a polite bow and gestured towards the lounge chairs.

“Thank you,” Akiyama replied with another bow before turning to head to the chairs.

Fushimi followed, but did not sit down as he leaned against a support pillar next to one of the couches. Akiyama did so, but flipped open his PDA to look through the notes. Instead, Fushimi looked around, studying the lobby some more. The layout reminded him of a luxury hotel instead, but one designed for rich clientele. The fact that it had the fixings of a western-style reception area and lobby gave it even more credence that Saito Financial dealt with a lot of overseas clients.

No wonder they were extremely worried about their IT infrastructure.

They did not have to wait long as the receptionist approached them with some deference instead of the faked interest he more than likely greeted all first-time visitors to Saito Financial.

“Officer Akiyama and Fushimi?” the man bowed his head slightly at them. “If you would please wait a few minutes? The CEO has been expecting you and will send someone to escort you up to his office.”

The few minutes turned out to be less than that as the elevator's dinged an arrival and both Fushimi and Akiyama turned to see a middle-aged man exiting. He had greying hair and narrow, almost closed-eyes. Movement out of the corner of his eye made Fushimi shoot a quick glance at the receptionist to see him stiffening with surprise.

“S-Saito-san!” the man bowed as the middle-aged man passed by.

Fushimi pushed himself off from the column he was leaning on and stepped forward along with Akiyama who had gotten up from his chair. The two of them inclined their heads towards the CEO who had come down to personally greet them.

“Ah, Officer Akiyama and Officer Fushimi,” the man bowed slightly, but it was stiff-looking, “I am Saito Akihito, the CEO of Saito Financial. Please forgive an old man for the stiff greeting as I am still recovering from the unfortunate incident at the prime minister's dinner party.”

Fushimi knew there were civilian injuries, mainly from shrapnel and the like. Akiyama was the one who acknowledged the stiff bow with a gentle smile. “We are terribly sorry to inconvenience you to greet us down here.”

The man waved an absent hand, his smile turning a little more kind before gesturing for them to follow. “No, it is not an inconvenience. I prefer to greet all of my guests this way. The formalities of businesses some times gives us higher ups too much of a mysterious air. I encourage all of my employees, including my own subordinates to set an example of their peers. That even the most junior of ideas is to be explored and respected.”

They stopped by the metal detectors that lead into the elevators. “Nishiki-san, Amaya-san, please let these gentlemen pass by without having to remove their weapons.”

“Err...but sir-”

“I will allow it. They are, in essence, investigators sent to help us. I'd rather see them with weapons that will help us if these Strain-types do exist in this building, than to see them part from their weaponry.”

“S-Sir,” the two guards straightened before allowing them to pass.

Fushimi pointedly ignored the very loud buzzing sound that the metal detector made as he and Akiyama passed through and entered the elevator along with the Saito.

“Thank you for your kindness,” Akiyama replied as the elevators closed and the CEO swiped his badge before hitting a button that made them reach the mid-levels of the building.

“It is the least I could do for you young soldiers,” Saito replied kindly, “I can see why Munakata-san finds such pride in working at Sceptre 4.”

“You used to be military,” Akiyama stated, but not without malice. There was genuine curiosity in the former JSDF soldier's tone.

“As I can see you were one too,” Saito turned and nodded at Akiyama, “I was in the Maritime service in my early years. Fleet Support and Supplies.”

“Ground forces, Intelligence Division,” Akiyama stuck his hand out and Saito met it with a firm shake. “It is always a pleasure to see a fellow soldier enjoying their second careers after their service.”

“Intel, eh?” Saito nodded. “I can see why Munakata wanted to recruit you.”

“It is an honor to serve under him,” Akiyama replied in kind.

“I was sad the day he had handed in his resignation to me,” Saito's smile stretched a little wider at their small starts of surprise. He chuckled, a warm sound in the small confines of the elevator. “I suppose since he joined a public bureau, one similar to police forces in a way, there wouldn't be a need to know the leader's history unless there was something of note.” He sighed, making a motion to clasp his hands behind him as if he was used to it, but stopped abruptly and let them rest by his sides. Fushimi supposed it was perhaps the injury aggravating him. “Your Captain and I go a long way back. He used to be my Vice President when I was CFO of a different company. I normally do not take advantage of connections, but in this case, I am glad I indulged in such a vice and was reciprocated in kind.”

“If you could explain the concern you're having-”

“Actually, I think my IT personnel could probably explain it more fluently than I could. I approved of the installation of the JUNGLE communication application and various interstitial software included, but I'm not really good with its inner workings.”

As the man finished, the elevators started to slow and stop. The doors opened with a soft _ding_ and the three of them stepped out. Instead of a hallway before double doors, the elevators had opened directly onto a floor of open desks and people in collared shirts, most of whom were staring at the screens of their computers.

The layout was huge and Fushimi could see a small glass partition on the far end of the floor where there were black monolith-like structures. Part of a server room. He knew it was a part as he was familiar with computer hardware systems and for a company like this, there were at least two floors if not more worth of servers to process large quantities of data and store it. A financial company would likely have a lot more data to process than any other normal company. Even his former desktop tower had been rather large and cumbersome – mostly filled with his GPU and hard drives for when he was messing around with coding – along with a gigantic water-assisted cooling fan.

“...Wow...” Akiyama breathed quietly next to him and Fushimi shot a dirty look at him. Why the hell the man was impressed was beyond him.

“Kitano-san!” The CEO called out and man dressed in a blue-striped collared shirt suddenly pushed himself away from his desk.

“Yes? Oh! Saito-san! I'm sorry, I didn't hear your arrival,” the man hurriedly stood up from his chair and walked over to them.

“It's all right, I know you and the team have been hard at work. I wanted to introduce you to Officers Akiyama and Fushimi of Sceptre 4. They are here to help assess the situation and hopefully provide a solution to our problem.”

“Ah, this the police force you were talking about the other day, right?” Kitano rubbed the back of his head and bowed slightly towards them. “Pleased to meet you. I am Kitano Shinichi.”

Fushimi merely nodded once as Akiyama returned the bow with a slight inclination of his head.

Saito suddenly clapped his hands together. “Well, then, I can tell when I am not wanted nor needed to make others nervous with my presence. I will leave the rest up to you. Please feel free to check in whenever you wish. Refreshments, catered food are all on the house.”

Before anyone else to say a word, the CEO turned on his heel and left. Fushimi clicked his tongue softly before turning back to Kitano who was looking at them expectantly. “What do you need to know or see first, Officers?”

“Server rooms.”

“Installation process.”

Kitano blinked, staring between Fushimi and Akiyama as the two of them spoke up. Akiyama hid a smile behind a hand as he coughed before gesturing towards the glass partition. “Server rooms then. Perhaps you can explain your installation process while you're at it?”

“O-Of course,” Kitano replied before gesturing for them to follow. “Please, this way.”


	4. Chapter 4

“I'll call it a successful date,” Kusanagi teased as he and Seri walked down the street that led to Bar HOMRA. His words had the desired effect of bringing a slight tinge of pink to Seri's cheeks and he laughed lightly.

“It's not a date-”

“Meeting up for lunch, then taking the train together over to the island high school, only to find out that the Silver King has caught a head cold and won't be available for the next few days and then taking the train back and now walking down the streets hand in hand? How is that not a date?”

“Lunch meeting, actual mission, and now escorting a known Red Clansmen back to his base to ensure he does not get into much trouble,” Seri replied with a serious expression, but her eyes sparkled with a mischief that he rarely saw.

His light laugh became a full blown one, echoed by Seri's a few seconds later. He held himself together before leaning over and pecking her on the cheek gently. “Thank you for the lovely time.”

Her cheeks blushed a deeper shade of pink and on impulse he gestured towards the entrance of Bar HOMRA. “We could continue our chat.”

“I...musn't,” Seri protested, looking away. “I...need to return to headquarters-”

“You aren't expected to return until later in the day. Your Captain gave you this mission-”

“I actually insisted I go-”

“Same difference,” Kusanagi knew why she had insisted, but did not call her out on it at this moment. No, this was a moment for him to try to get her to relax, to come more out of her professional shell and actually enjoy the time they had together. It was something each of them liked and fueled part of their Wish while they had been under the Slate's influence. “A few minutes of idleness won't hurt, will it, Seri-chan?”

She pursed her lips, ones that he wanted to actually kiss, but would not pursue it until she gave him tacit permission, and finally nodded.

“All right...”

He grinned and took her cool, but calloused hands into his own and tugged it gently for her to follow. He could feel the slight tremble in them, a reactive instinct to pull her hands away from his own – probably countless of times that she had done on dates with other men. He knew, even without her telling him, that she was self-conscious of her callouses on her fingers at the same time she was fiercely proud of her swordsmanship.

It was the only way one could develop such callouses. But at the same time, she was more than likely held and judged by other standards – especially men she had dated – to be a _Nadeshiko_ because of her beauty. They expected something out of her that she could only superficially provide.

Kusanagi had no expectations from her and let her be whom she wanted to be – at least that was what he hoped. He did have one expectation from her – that she be herself around him and not conform to what others thought of her. Time would only tell if he succeeded.

Her twitching stopped as his perpetually warm rough fingers engulf her cool thin, but strong ones. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, the bell ringing as he made the usual pleasantries and announcements as he stepped in. Seri stuttered through her words, still hesitant, but as he tugged her gently in some more and let her hand go, she seemed to regain some of her confidence.

“So what will it be, Mademoiselle?” he asked her as he unwrapped his own scarf and jacket and placed it on the coat hanger. Taking hers, he hung it up next to his own.

“Something warm, it is still winter outside,” she replied.

“All right then, one hot chocolate-”

“Kusanagi-san, you back so early?” Yata's voice came from the kitchens and a few seconds later the familiar redhead peered out.

“Yata, almost didn't hear you there.”

“Yeah,” Yata glanced upwards and kept his voice quiet, “have to keep quiet. Our...guest...is apparently sleeping. Anna's watching over him for now. I'm making some warm milk and was going to mix in some drinking chocolate for myself, but Anna just wants the warm milk with some sugar in it.”

Kusanagi raised an eyebrow. Anna's mysterious guest was a...he. And judging by Yata's expression, he wasn't too happy about it, but didn't seem to put up much protest.

“Anna has a boyfriend?” Seri whispered quietly towards him, but Yata seemed to have picked up on her words as his face wrinkled into something that might have passed for disgust.

“Oh so help me-” Yata gagged, “No, no, no, no, and no! Definitely not. She get's a boyfriend, I'm killing him.”

Seri leaned back a little. “Oh.” An impish smile appeared on her lips. “You would be the best person to protect Anna's interests.”

Yata spluttered a little at the implications, however mild, and blushed before somehow marshaling his confidence and looked at the two of them. “Didn't realize you were both returning so soon.” He took a long look at Seri and Kusanagi sensed that Yata did not want her here.

“The Silver King apparently caught a head cold. Nothing more we can do at the moment until he gets better,” Kusanagi shrugged before gesturing towards the bar and couch. “Seri-chan, let me make sure Yata doesn't burn the milk since it's been sitting on the stovetop for a bit now instead of being minded. Is hot chocolate okay?”

“With the usual condiments,” she nodded as she moved past him and took a seat at the bar. He had a feeling she was not fooled at all by his evasive attempt to talk to Yata alone, but seemed okay with it.

He smiled at her. If whatever Yata had to say for him alone was worth telling Seri, then he would tell her – if not, he knew she would understand on some level. For all they both knew, it was HOMRA-related and by unspoken agreement, Sceptre 4 did not butt into HOMRA matters unless it was outside of their territory.

He gestured for Yata to precede him into the kitchen where he did find the pot of milk slowly coming to a boil. The young man was an excellent chef at times, mindful of the state of what he cooked and warming milk for hot chocolate was no different.

“Well?” Kusanagi started as Yata turned the heat up a little higher to account for the added milk he poured into the pot. There were three mugs set out already and Kusanagi reached up to the shelves to pull a fourth and fifth mug as Yata set out more chocolates to melt.

“Anna found Gojo Sukuna,” Yata started without preamble, but kept his voice low.

“And brought him back here,” Kusanagi finished. Yata nodded once, a frown on his face as he watched the milk he was stirring swirl. Kusanagi sighed quietly, resisting the urge to rub his own eyes and face. “There's an active warrant for his arrest and questioning by Sceptre 4.”

“I _know_ that,” Yata forced through gritted teeth.

“And Anna was hoping that I would return later in the afternoon without Seri-chan,” Kusanagi blew out another long sigh as he considered the situation.

“Good thing you weren't here about half-hour ago,” Yata commented, continuing the stir the milk. Little bubbles were starting to form and the occasional thin film was torn apart by the movement of the wooden spoon used to continuously mix it. “We got Dr. what's-his-name-”

“Udo,” Kusanagi finished.

“Yeah, him, to come look at the snot-nosed brat. Seems like he's been living on the streets, or close to it, since the Slate's destruction. Was still nursing the broken arm me and Saru gave him in the fight.”

“That long?”

Yata shrugged as he shut off the gas stove and started to pour the milk into the mugs. The chocolate cubes sitting in them started to melt instantly from contact with the near-boiling milk. Anna's mug, with a small teaspoon of sugar in it melted and mixed instantly. Kusanagi immediately set it aside on a separate tray and took another one that was for the young J-rank Green Clan member and placed it next to Anna's mug.

“How's the kid?”

“Arm's apparently healed. The doc thinks it may be more psychological for the brat than anything else.”

“Ah...” Kusanagi had been a little worried if the arm was still broken for so long. Granted, before he received his powers of Red, a broken arm took roughly six weeks or so to heal, but since then, each Clansmen, no matter their color, had a higher endurance, agility and stamina that enabled them to freely wield the powers that they had. Some had varying levels like their powers, but there was a marked difference between ordinary people and those who were bestowed the gifts of powers by the Slate – Strains included.

“Any sign of the parrot or the swordsman, Mishakuji Yukari?”

“No,” Yata shook his head as he stuck a spoon in Anna's drink and gave it a quick swirl before moving to the others to hasten the melting process. “And believe me, I looked around while Anna had me getting food for the three of us.”

“Anna probably told the kid that we'd be able to provide food, shelter and protection from the Blues, right?”

“Something like that,” Yata replied, “I'm not sure what she said.”

Kusanagi absently nodded as he considered the possibilities. It meant whatever Anna said was for Gojo Sukuna's ears only and said when Yata had been getting food for them. He never knew her to speak honeyed words like himself, but she did take after her foster father, Mikoto, a lot in terms of a quiet magnetic personality and charisma of sorts. Anna spoke bluntly, some times in riddles, but a truthfulness that did not give her the ability to speak with a gilded tongue.

“Do you think we will be under threat by Mishakuji Yukari?” he asked.

Yata snorted. “Yeah-”

“Yata,” Kusanagi glanced at the redhead, his eyes flashing in warning.

The younger man sighed, staring at the steaming mugs as he absently switched from mug to mug to stir the contents inside. “Doesn't seem like it. Kid seemed pretty depressed. Still a mouthy brat, but I'm trying not to get riled up by his antics. I think he knows he's under our protection.” He turned his hazel eyes on him. “Whatcha wanna do about this?”

Between the two of them, one could easily remember what happened the last time they harbored fugitives from the Blues. Yata was clearly _not_ happy to be doing so again and was more than likely reminded of what happened in the aftermath.

“Did Anna say anything to you?”

“No,” Yata took the wooden spoon out of the last mug and tossed it into the sink to wash later. He placed the third mug onto the tray itself and pulled it towards him.

Kusanagi nodded absently. It meant Anna was comfortable with his knowledge in this matter and trusted him to do what he thought was right. Still, curiosity drove his next question to the vanguard of HOMRA.

“What do _you _think?”

“There was a time ago when I'd probably advocate protection and keeping shit like this from the Blues,” Yata replied, pursing his lips. “Then...well...you know what the fuck happened. I wanna say, let's tell the Blues, because I don't want something like this to come between Saruhiko and myself, but then I wonder – am I scared? Am I too cowardly?”

Kusanagi smiled a little. “No, you just value your friendship with him. It's natural to be selfish like that. Plus, there is no inherent need to be at such odds with the Blues. Not after everything's that happened. Not after the peace that the Kings have built for us for the last few years. We've got a better understanding of our counterparts. They have a better understanding of us – at least that's what we hope. There are still things that both of our Clans do that annoy the other, but is it worth it the animosity, the way we were at such odds with each other before and also by previous Kings of our Clans?”

Yata snorted.

“The Blue King will eventually find out. In a way, we can control when and how he finds out,” Kusanagi continued.

Yata snorted again, this time a lot quieter. “I think I'm beginning to get why you wanted Saru to be your successor.”

Kusanagi blinked, surprised. “Ah...you're a lot more observant than I gave you credit for, Yata...”

“No,” the vanguard shook his head, “just realizing how much Saru and I had our heads stuck in our asses for a long time. Let's just call it the Slate Wish thing that kind of rattled us and made me realize that I want to move forward. But how I can do that is to not make mistakes in my past so I _can_ move forward.”

“That is very brave of you,” Kusanagi nodded as he reached over to grab the two mugs that had been left for him and Seri. He tried to lighten the mood a little. “And now I'm about to do something that I need all of my bravery.”

“She has an anko bean paste problem, you do know that, right? I don't think you can fix it,” Yata immediately picked up on the mug he hefted.

“Yes, yes, but I'd like to think maybe I'll try one day...” Kusanagi tilted his chin slightly in a short-hand farewell as he headed out of the kitchen and towards the bar.

“Everything all right?” Seri asked as he set the mugs down onto the bar. She had perched herself onto one of the stools, flipping through her PDA, but had set it down the moment he entered. The sound of the kitchen door opening and closing indicated Yata had also left, carrying the tray upstairs to their unexpected guest and their King.

“Yes and no,” Kusanagi replied as he fished for the scoop and placed three lumps of anko paste into Seri's mug. He placed a long thin spoon in it and set her mug in front of her. The thin spoon enabled her to break apart the paste however she wanted.

She gave a quick stir before drinking, a smile appearing on her lips. Kusanagi tried his own mug, silently lamenting at how sugary sweet and diabetes-inducing Seri's drink was now. But he kept silent on her tastes and preferences, knowing that his very old joke about how sweet she was would probably go over like a lead balloon after the first time he had met her and discovered her obsession with everything anko bean paste.

“Yes and no?” she prompted.

“Yata had a very insightful comment and it's making me do some serious thinking,” Kusanagi knew he was dancing around the subject and judging by Seri's expression, she knew it too. However, she was patient enough with him and merely took a measured sip of her sickeningly sweet drink. Of all of the Blues, she was the most level-headed, though their fourth-in-command Akiyama was probably closest.

He sighed, drinking a mouthful of the hot chocolate and made his decision. “We found Gojo Sukuna.”

Seri's reaction was rather...calm. She stirred her drink again before setting the mug to the side. “When?”

“Today,” he gestured with a hand up the stairs. “Anna was able to dowse his location this morning. She and Misaki went to convince him to come back to HOMRA while we were supposed to be at the island high school.”

“Ah.”

He stared at her, his own calm starting to fray a little. She looked rather neutral, contrary to his expectations. He had been expecting her to demand to see him or other such strong words – certainly not a hysterical demand – but strong words for obstructing justice or something like that. However, with none forthcoming, or at least none that he could quite anticipate through her expression, he was beginning to wonder if something happened to her.

“Were you going to tell me?”

“Yes.”

She stared at him for a long moment, her ice-blue eyes boring into his own. She must have come to some kind of conclusion before she reached for her mug again and took a small sip before setting it back down. She absently tapped the sides, her short nails clicking against the ceramic.

“You didn't know when you left this morning,” she stated and he started a little in surprise before he saw the first of her calm facade crack a little. A small smile and he realized it had been an educated guess.

“S-Seri...”

“I took the assignment to gather more knowledge about the Slates for three reasons. One of which is quite personal which I don't feel comfortable sharing at the moment. The other was because I was angry at the Captain for being so selfishly careless with his life and in my anger, did not want to interact with him much. The third reason was because I realized in order for us to further advance when we eventually lose our powers, we must raise our deductive skills and reasoning. We have been so reliant on our powers to help us as our sixth sense and as our companions that we have gotten complacent in our actual skills as investigators. We are capable, but we should strive to be more than our current capabilities. I will refrain from thanking HOMRA for derailing some of our investigations...”

Kusanagi chuckled and to his pleasant surprise, Seri also cracked a small smile. He nodded at her words. “I applaud you for your dedication. And your masterful technique of making me reveal my hand.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Seri replied as she took another sip. Kusanagi did so as well, letting the warm drink settle him some more.

“Are you going to tell the Captain?”

“I have to,” she replied.

“Are you going to arrest him?”

“I will let my King decide that per the current truce,” Seri's reply was worthy of the diplomat she had become in the scant few years he knew her as a Blue Clansmen.

“It would be nice to see Reisi again,” Anna's voice spoke from stairs and the two of them turned to see her walking down.

“Red King,” Seri bowed her head slightly in polite greeting.

“Gojo Sukuna is currently resting. However, I believe he may be open to answering questions. I would not advise removing him from our presence though,” Anna warned and Seri nodded, her expression serious.

“Then, please excuse me,” she said, pushing herself away from the bar and stepped towards the door. Her PDA was already by her ear and she was murmuring quietly into it. Kusanagi strained to catch what she was saying, but she refused to turn her head towards him.

He gave up on trying to listen to her conversation and instead, smiled gently at his ward and King as she sat on a stool. “Did he drink some of the hot chocolate?”

“He enjoyed a bit of it, but it's clear he's still very exhausted and fell asleep after one sip,” Anna looked wistful, “Misaki is currently guarding the door.”

“Something that is needed?”

“Possibly,” Anna replied, but did not elaborate. Kusanagi wondered if she had dowsed something, a danger in bringing Gojo Sukuna back or something else.

“Should I alert the others?” he asked.

“No,” Anna replied, “there is no danger yet.”

Kusanagi frowned. Her cryptic words were a little alarming and he looked at her shrewdly. She met his look with a simple one and he nodded. He trusted her. The tapping of Seri's boots made him look at her as she returned and set her PDA down onto the bar again.

“The Captain is coming. He is also keeping this off of Sceptre 4's records for the moment,” Seri replied before looking at Anna. “Red King Kushina Anna, thank you for entrusting us with this.”

Anna graciously nodded once as silence descended upon them as they waited for the Blue King to arrive.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters are going to be a little slower from here on out. I'm currently working on my 4th book of my published series which kind of kills some of the fanfic writing process. For those curious, I write under the name of Sandra Chen in the real world.

Fushimi didn't realize how thirsty he was until a can of grape soda was shoved in front of his face, blocking his view of the screen he was working on. He blinked, irritation shooting through him before the can moved slightly. He was about to tell Misaki to stop it before he came to himself. This was not at the apartment he used to share with the redhead idiot. Instead, he was sitting on the cold ground of one of the server rooms of Saito Financial. Dozens of wires ran from the laptop to one of the servers, but it had kept him warm from the perpetually cold air conditioning of such rooms.

“Fushimi-san, please, you haven't had a drink of _anything_ in the last few hours. For the sake of our hosts, please at least accept this can of grape soda,” Akiyama's voice sounded like it was coming down a long tube and he looked up, adjusting his glasses as he blinked the afterimage of coding from his eyes.

He clicked his tongue and grabbed the can of soda and popped the tab open. He downed the fizzy drink in nearly one go, stopping only three quarters of the can was done before setting it down next to him.

“Err...” Another voice – that one belonging to one of the younger computer technicians – started up, but Fushimi ignored him and looked back down at the laptop he was commandeering.

However, he did catch wind of Akiyama's long suffering sigh before the other man deftly picked up the can of soda and carried it away, outside of the server room. Fushimi rolled his eyes. He was not _that_ careless to go spilling a sugary drink all over the floor which would then seep into the hollowed floors where multitudes of cables ran.

He adjusted his glasses once more and continued to peel away the layers and layers of coding that had apparently been either programmed in or erected by the mainframe in the days following its installation at Saito Financial. It was organic, for the lack of a better descriptor, as Kitano Shinichi had confirmed while they had been examining the server rooms. In the sense that Saito Financial had been asked how larger their server rooms were and had been allocated five of the 'nodes' with instructions on how to install them to their servers and give them access to JUNGLE's network.

They had been told that these nodes – both a combination of propriety hardware and software from JUNGLE Corporation – were approved by the government. Like any good IT worth their salt, Kitano and his team had gone through and attempted to make it all compatible and ensure security measures were in place, but they had been stopped by one of the U-rank members who had been there to oversee the installation. Much polite protesting had been involved, but ultimately Saito had overruled his IT head and the nodes were installed without the safety and security measure any private company would have vetted through.

Fushimi wondered if Saito now regretted his haste and was attempting to save face with breaking protocol, but also with his own IT department. However, Kitano seemed too polite to call his boss out on such an action.

Of course, the identity of the mysterious U-rank member was the first thing Akiyama had gone to try to find out about while Fushimi had taken a look at the installation and the structure of how everything was installed, but he had come back after two hours of combing through records and security tapes. It seemed the U-rank member had both masked their presence, but also erased any digital traces of whom they were. Typical.

During that time, Fushimi was able to figure out how the five nodes had been installed and how it related to the technology structure of the company and started to dig through the software. The problem that Kitano and his team faced was mainly not the software, but the hardware.

It seemed it was alive.

In the electronic sense. Alive in the fact that it had defensive measures to prevent removal and literally sparked green electric arcs at anyone who got too close or moved a wire that was detrimental to its powered on state. Kitano said that they had dug through the software and found pieces of code that seemed to give it its alive state – almost like a machine learning code that was close to an artificial intelligence. Once they pointed out the bit of code, Fushimi realized he recognized it. It was both the same scripted code that had nearly fried his computer back in the days before he joined HOMRA, but also when he had been nearly killed by the Green King before Munakata had put a stop to it – and then recruited him.

To Fushimi, it meant _someone_ was on the other side, physically maintaining the code or received alerts to maintain the coding if some enterprising IT professional tried to crack it. To what purpose, he did not know, but the immediate concern was to dismantle it.

Which he and Akiyama had done in the last couple of hours. It was not easy, but Fushimi suggested that Akiyama produce a shield against the physical hardware, encompassing it, but also then forcibly shove the shielding down through the wires connecting it to the Saito Financial servers, cutting it off. Fushimi would then dev/null the coding so that it would only loop to itself before Akiyama and whomever, would then physically rip it out of the racks. They hoped to keep a physical one, but the first two had proven that they were booby trapped with lightning jutsus which forced Akiyama to destroy the whole thing with his Blue-embued sword.

And they both noticed that the second one destroyed produced a stronger lightning jutsu than the first one. It was also then that Fushimi noticed the coding had changed a little – whomever was on the other side maintaining the 'alive' state of the boxes was attempting to change the coding real time. Around them, a few IT members were sitting on the ground of one of the two server room levels. The one on their floor in the corner was just for show and for tour groups to see. They were all resting, having helped Akiyama quickly rip out the heavy piece of hardware from the racks before letting him destroy it.

A few others had already begun the physical repair of the servers around the rack, whether it was re-wiring or software patching. Departments in the building were being notified of offline services and some of the company's systems affected. There was no way to physically shut down Saito Financial for a day – no one wanted to lose a day's worth of money and deals that could be gained.

That should have been the prudent thing to do, but Fushimi got the feeling that Saito Akihito was pragmatically ruthless in his financial dealings. And so they worked around that. The other thing was that Fushimi was obliquely monitoring Akiyama's Weismann levels with his PDA while he used one of the master stations set up in the server room.

So far, it seemed Akiyama was holding steady, but compared to the man's last Weismann reading recorded back when the Red, Blue and Silver Clans invaded the Green Clan's hideout, there had been a noticeable drop – both in strength and in the longevity in which his shield could be held to protect others. He did not know if the drop had been sudden since the month following the destruction of the Slate, or if it was gradually.

Perhaps he should call for backup-

“Where's the next one located, Fushimi-san?” Akiyama stepped back into the room sans the can of grape soda.

“Opposite side of this room. Third rack,” He clicked his tongue lightly and the former JSDF soldier nodded once. He headed towards the other side of the room, the IT members following him.

He activated his comm., as he found the cluster of coding and started to type.

“In place,” Akiyama's voice came over the comms. A few seconds later, “Shield's up.”

Fushimi was aware of the eyes on him, the members of the IT staff who weren't physically strong enough to help the others. He knew they were trying to study how he dismantled the coding, but Fushimi deigned to explain the process. It was simple really, coding he recognized from long ago that first night he, Misaki and Aya chased the Silver King's floating airship. It was definitely modified since then, but the pattern had been spotted easily enough.

His fingers flew over the keyboard and he could hear shouts start up at the far end of the room, followed by the sounds of angry sparks of sorts.

“The jutsu seems to be growing larger Fushimi-san,” Akiyama's voice was a little static from the electronic interference the jutsu was giving off, but nonetheless, he acknowledged it with a brief nod.

Fushimi glanced down at his PDA briefly. Akiyama's Weismann levels seem to be holding steady, but the number was not growing any larger. It seemed that this was the man's limit. A sudden yelp followed by a curse that flew through the comms made Fushimi bark out. “Steady with the shield!”

“I got it,” Akiyama sounded strained.

Out of the corner of his eyes as he continued to type, he could see the flickering of blues clashing against the hissing sparks of green. The ping on his PDA made Fushimi glance down without stopping his fingers to see the words [Weismann Levels Detected]. Shit...it was alive again...in a weird electronic sort of way.

And judging by the sudden surge of levels, it was not happy.

“All of you, get the fuck out of here now,” he barked at the IT personnel crouching around him.

“But-”

“Get out of here or I'll stab you,” he threatened, pulling a knife out before they hurried out.

He sheathed his knife back into its holster and typed faster. He needed to cross the lines of coding and work quickly as he could see the levels rising. They were nearing the limit Akiyama's were pushing and-

“Now!” He stabbed the enter key on his keyboard, as the coding started to disappear. On the other side of the room, there was the brightening of blue followed by sounds of metal-on-metal, something ripping, a few shouts of surprise and angry green sparks – then the rumble of something that reverberated through the hollow floors.

“It's done,” Akiyama's voice was ragged with exhaustion and Fushimi glanced up, his eyes straining – for a reason he couldn't fathom – to see if there was any sign of smoke or indication that the component had escaped the shielding.

He clicked his tongue and lowered his gaze as he wondered why he had done that. He took a look at the coding and pursed his lips as the other IT personnel he had ordered out started to tentatively come back in. One was pushing a cart and seeing that the commotion seemed to have stopped, headed towards where his comrades were all clapping each other on their backs, congratulating each other on a job well done.

A small swell of a rising cheer heralded Akiyama's return from the other side of the room. Fushimi ignored it and stood, absently brushing himself down as he hefted the portable networked laptop. He glanced up to see the other man wave the others away as they took a break.

“What do we have next?” Akiyama's voice was all business, but Fushimi detected a hint of exhaustion in them. He studied the former soldier with a critical eye. Outwardly, Akiyama had some dirt on his face and parts of his uniform, no doubt from the hard labor he was doing dismantling the physical pieces once they were contained and isolated from the network.

Fushimi pulled his PDA and glanced at the Weismann level indicator. Akiyama's levels were still holding strong, but there was the tremor that indicated potential drop. He made his decision and switched to the screens that showed the Weismann Levels. “We have a problem,” he started without preamble. “You're about to have another drop in your levels. And we finally detected that there are indications the server, or whatever is keeping its hold on this network is alive in the electronic sense.”

“I figured as much.” If Akiyama was bothered by the fact that Fushimi was keeping an eye on the Weismann levels of fellow Special Police Force personnel, he did not show it. People were particular about that sort of thing, something Fushimi noted since the destruction of the Slate, but he was never one for such types of secrets. “I could feel something different back then. It was like fighting a Green Clansmen, except...not as physical as I guess I could call it.”

The former soldier smiled grimly as he pointed a finger at the readings. “That the spike?”

Fushimi nodded, studying his fellow clansmen with new eyes. He's always known that Akiyama was probably the most level-headed of all of the Special Police Force, himself and Awashima included, minding most of the other members' mood swings and personalities, but he was also the one who took things like chain-of-command so seriously that any sort of rebellion against authority was frowned down upon. Fushimi was well aware that his own tendencies tested a lot of Akiyama's patience, especially since he outranked him – but he really did not care.

He only worked with Akiyama twice in the years he was at Sceptre 4. Benzai was the man's main partner in investigations. And the two times he worked with Akiyama, he more often than not, ditched him to conduct his own investigations and question his own sources.

Now, though...

Perhaps something had changed when the Slate was destroyed. Or, more than likely, the rumors of him losing his powers might have given the members of Sceptre 4 more pause. Whatever it was, Fushimi was irritated to the point that it felt like he was being treated like he was about to break – and Akiyama talking with him like this, without the usual fussiness or frowns indicating his slight irritation of break of protocol bothered Fushimi.

A lot.

Fushimi didn't know why it bothered him. He shoved that thought to the side as he enlarged the windows of the Weismann levels. “This thing is definitely reacting to our attempts to dislodge it from the servers.”

“So, the next one is...”

“Four racks from here,” he replied.

“You've got a plan.” It was not a question, but the fact that Akiyama stated as much surprised Fushimi. And he also realized his expression was probably not as closed off as he thought it had been as a crooked smile crossed the older man's face. “Fushimi-san, we've been working in the same department for the last four years or so. I would have hoped that even though we only worked a couple of official investigations together, at least on paper, you would at least do me some credit by my observational skills as well as my former profession in the JSDF.”

Fushimi clicked his tongue softly as he ignored the mild admonishment. He worked better alone. Just what was Akiyama trying to imply or do did not matter to him. “The plan was to trap the entity in this laptop.”

“How?”

“Coding,” Fushimi replied. “A simple cage of coding.”

“Fushimi-san-”

“It should still recognize me as a J-rank member,” he replied, keeping his voice even. It was a long shot, but he hoped that perhaps the lack of his clan power, it would still recognize the PDA that he hooked up to the laptop to observe the levels. That same PDA that he had used to achieve J-rank.

“...It's that kind of alive?” Akiyama's eyebrows rose up into his hairline.

Fushimi shot him a look. “No,” he shook his head. “There is another person on this end of the JUNGLE app who is live programming. By forcing the person to code with limited resources, I plan to use the laptop to locate and extract information from them when they are forced to use the laptop as the only source left.” He tapped his PDA that was hooked to the laptop.

Akiyama's face was one of relief as he sighed. “Please don't joke about such things, Fushimi-san.”

Fushimi merely shrugged. He was hoping that by using the profile of one Nanahara Ami that had been given to him this morning – by cloning his own PDA's operating system and uploading a false profile – he would be able to potentially draw more information from whomever was on the other side actively trying to hack away.

“So...why did we not start with the first node, I guess the one your laptop is connected to?”

Fushimi only glanced up at the other man before he winced. “I know, stupid question. Sorry. But why work from far away to here?”

“Support,” Fushimi replied, not bothering to elaborate before tapping on the other man's Weismann levels. “We'll have to move quickly this time. How fast can you put the shielding up?”

“I think I can do it pretty quickly, but I definitely felt resistance each time.”

“Take a break, I need to do some quick coding-”

“Maybe we should all take a break-”

“Whatever,” Fushimi waved him absently away, sitting back down as he shrunk the windows and started to create a program to hopefully help shorten the time when he executed his next lines of code. Akiyama was going to need all of the speed and help he could get. He heard a sigh above him before the man's booted feet stepped away, followed by the door opening and closing into the server rooms.

A peaceful hum fell in the server rooms, but Fushimi could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise up, almost as if the lightning of the Green Clan was waiting to strike – a predator slowly being cornered. He worked faster.


	6. Chapter 6

Munakata's arrival to Bar HOMRA was almost as uneventful as the last time he had come. The only difference was that he was in full uniform instead of civilian clothes. One might thought it ill advised, especially if it was in Red Clan territory, but then again, it was still early enough in the weekday that many were still working or had not begun to leave work to take much notice of his arrival.

He was, however, very careful in his travels to the bar. Hirasaka Douhan's warning still rang in his ears since that night of the Strain raid at the prime minister's dinner party. He would have brought Fushimi into his plans, but with this new development he hesitated to at the moment. He needed to assess the big picture before letting his third-in-command loose. Gojo Sukuna's discovery was quite unexpected, but welcomed.

The Green Clan ninja's – he could almost imagine the scoffing sound Fushimi made at such nonsense – information indicated that three of the two J-rank members had been hunting for something. She had found their locations in areas where, when cross checked with Sceptre 4's databases, Sceptre 4 had a few previous raids against Strains. At least one of them was a recent Strain raid in the early days of the destruction of the Slate.

He had one of Fushimi's favorite Intelligence analysts, Sakimoto Miyuki, look at the data and collate all of the information together. His third-in-command was rather good at reading people's characters, even if one thought he tended to treat everyone the same. He showed it by going back to the same person over and over again, relying on them to get what he needed, provide him with accurate and timely information. Munakata had seen that in the many reports that he received, the names repeating themselves and over and over again.

However, he also made sure to utilize other sources of information like he knew Fushimi did too – so not to get complacent with just one source of information. Still, it was good to have many cards in his hand that he could rely on.

“Sir,” Awashima greeted him as he entered and he nodded towards her. She stepped to the side to let him pass.

“Reisi,” Anna stood by the foot of the stairs, her hands folded in front of her. It would have been a very demure stance except for the seriousness of her dark red eyes.

“Anna,” he greeted the Red King with a respectful nod. “Kusanagi-shi,” he turned and acknowledged HOMRA's second-in-command.

“Blue King.” As usual, the bartender was drying a mug. There was a hint of sweetness in the air, almost like chocolate had been melting. That explained the mugs.

“Thank you for coming,” Anna started without preamble.

“Thank you for inviting me,” he replied in kind. She smiled faintly before turning and heading up the stairs.

He followed, gripping the sheath of his sword by his side so that it would not hit the stairs as they ascended. He did not need to know that Awashima and Kusanagi stayed below. This was to be a private audience with Gojo Sukuna. The arrived at the top and Munakata nodded once to Yata Misaki who stood by the door of the room that had been prepared for the Green Clansman, on guard.

“Anna,” the redhead nodded once towards them before giving him a shrewd look. “Blue King.”

“Yatagarasu,” he replied in kind and saw the man flinch a little, his cheeks flushing pink for a quick second before they returned to their normal color. Munakata did not quite understand why he produced such visceral reactions in the vanguard, but he supposed it was more indirectly to do with Fushimi than anything else. He would have hoped that he and the Red Clansmen had come to an understanding of sorts in the two times they talked alone with each other.

The vanguard pushed himself from the wall he had been leaning on and knocked on the door. “Kid, hope you're up, you've got guests,” he growled out before opening the door a crack and stepped away.

Munakata and Anna entered, closing the door behind them. The room itself was rather spacious. There was only one chair, but Munakata made no move to sit on it and instead, walked towards the windows and leaned against a wall of one of them. Even though it was the second floor of Bar HOMRA, there was still something nice about the view he got from the two corner windows he stood at.

Anna took the chair in the room as Gojo Sukuna sat on the bed. He looked rather disheveled, though his hair looked damp. A recent bath then, and the remnants of bandages were pooled on the edges of his bed. Recently healed too, Munakata inferred by what he saw.

And still armed, if there was any indication of the long shaft of a stick that leaned against the head of the bed – right by the young Green Clansmen's reach. There was the hint of ozone in the air, remnants of electricity which meant Sukuna had his powers. The surely look the young teen leveled at them curled Munakata's lips. _To be young again_, the extraneous thought floated in his mind.

“You said you'd protect me from _him_,” Sukuna pointed rudely at him while glaring at Anna, however, he did not reach for his weapon.

“I am not here to take you into custody,” Munakata spread his hands out. The teen was quite skittish and for good reason. He was wanted for questioning by Sceptre 4, even though the rumor of a bounty placed by Sceptre 4 on the young man's head was completely false. But he had done nothing to stop the rumor to see if it was able to flush the Green Clan members out into the open. However, there was definitely another bounty – and Munakata wondered if the young clansmen knew it was from his own clan. “I am merely hoping you would be able to answer a few questions I have.”

“I'm not going to get myself thrown into your prisons with nothing but solid power dampening walls and an uncomfortable bed to rest on.”

“Oh?” Munakata raised an eyebrow, “Are you that familiar with our jail cells?”

Sukuna drew back, pouting as he realized he had inadvertently revealed who his source was. He turned his glare back onto Anna. “You promised.”

“I have and I am,” Anna replied steadily. For her twelve years of age, she certainly seemed to be far more mature than the young man who was just a year older than her. He supposed for all of his comments to Suoh Mikoto long ago about his parenting skills after Anna was adopted gave her the quiet charisma and maturity that made her seem far older. If only the former Red King was alive to see his young daughter now – what a fine King she made.

“You are under my protection,” she said, keeping Sukuna's green-eyed gaze locked on her own. “Reisi is here at my invitation.”

Sukuna's lips thinned for a long moment before his glare softened and he huffed a breath, crossing his arms across his chest as he finally relaxed a little. “Fine,” he turned his gaze from her and pinned him with a dark look. “What the hell do you want then.”

Munakata took the invitation for what it was and pushed himself of from the wall, his hands loose around his body. “We are currently excavating the site of your former base.”

Sukuna flinched.

“Although we have not reached the lowest levels at the moment, I had hoped to at least make contact with you or Mishakuji Yukari before we did so you may be allowed to bury your clansmen as you saw fit.”

The young teen stiffened before he looked away. There was a minute tremble that ran through his clenched fists as he tried to tamp down on the obvious surge of emotions.

Munakata smiled inwardly. It was all a lie of course – they had found the bodies of the Grey and Green Kings and had them in their morgue, ready to be released to the Green Clansmen. He was not as heartless as to indicate that they had let the two rot for five weeks. But there was also the calculated grain of truth – he had been looking to make contact with the two human J-rank members.

“T-Thank you for your kindness,” Sukuna stuttered the words out with some effort.

“It is no burden,” he replied before gesturing a with a hand, “we had also hoped you could help us with an issue we have discovered.”

The young teen swallowed audibly before looking at him. “What issue...”

“While we have also yet to excavate the server room that the JUNGLE network seems to have run from, it had taken us a great deal of effort to attempt to remotely shut the network down. We have also discovered the possibility that the network has spread farther than we anticipated.”

He had read Fushimi's situation report at Saito Financial on his way here. It seemed he and Akiyama were dealing with nodes of sorts that acted like boosters to the JUNGLE network. Fushimi suspected that all of those who were at the JUNGLE party might have started or installed nodes to boost the network – and it seemed extracting them or dismantling such things was going to be very tough.

Fushimi did not ask for any backup, but only indicated his findings. Munakata forwarded his third-in-command's findings to Benzai and Fuse at the excavation site to direct all crews towards finding that server room and figuring out if there was a way to completely shut the whole network down.

It seemed simple remotely accessed keystrokes were not going to be enough to shut the JUNGLE app completely. Dismantling each and every installation was also not a manpower-effective solution.

“How the hell should I know,” Sukuna snorted quietly, eyes darting away, “that's Yukari's domain.” His words suddenly quieted as he realized what he had blurted out and he crossed his arms tightly across his chest.

Munakata was both pleased and a little worried by the answer. His worry stemmed from the fact that he _knew_ what Hirasaka Douhan told him – each J-rank member of JUNGLE had active bounties on them; Blue and Red Clansmen not withstanding. That was what she meant when she had told him that night after the apprehension of the fighting Strain siblings. Another quick glance at Gojo Sukuna's state told him that the young teen was more than likely aware of _that_ situation. Perhaps it was why he looked so exhausted and was seemingly living on the streets.

“Mishakuji Yukari seems to have eluded us for a while now,” he said instead, keeping his voice even.

“I'm not telling you,” Sukuna groused, brow furrowed.

“Sukuna,” Anna coaxed quietly. The young teen pressed his lips together in a stubborn line. “You are safe here,” she continued and Munakata glanced at her. He let Awashima know of the situation, bringing her into the fold of his plans, but it was one of the things he had suggested she not mention to Kusanagi at the moment. He knew that she would readily obey his request, even if it was not an order. But it seemed Anna knew and he wondered if she had dowsed it with her Strain powers. He silently concluded she must have considering she had been actively looking for Sukuna.

The silence stretched for a few seconds before Sukuna blew out a ragged sigh and hung his head. “Yukari's at the island high school right now...”

Anna blinked. “The Silver King turned us away today...”

“Yukari's meeting the Black Dog at the bridge. I doubt even the Silver King knows...”

“For what reason?” Munakata asked quietly. “Why such secrecy?”

That got him a derisive glance up the light purple-blonde bangs of hair – the look oddly reminiscent of a certain knife-wielding member of Sceptre 4 – and a quick shake of the same head. “What do you think, Blue King? You put bounties on all Green Clan members, you know?”

“Actually, they are not cash bounties,” he pointed out. “Information requests.”

“What, you think people are going to tell out of the goodness of their heart?”

“Tip line,” he replied, “in a moment of crisis, people would want to let the authorities know what's happening, even if there is no monetary gain to be found. The destruction of the Slate and the spontaneous revelation of those with powers is considered a crisis as so declared by the Japanese government.”

Sukuna snorted, looking back up at them. “The prime minister is an idiot.”

Munakata fought to hide the smile from appearing on his face. “Is there are particular reason for Mishakuji-shi to be meeting with Yatogami-kun?”

The young teenager furrowed his lip for a moment, pressing it into a thin line before breathing out a ragged sigh. “We've been attempting to meet with the surviving U-rank members, those not arrested by you lot, to spread the word of our King's last wishes.”

“Oh?” Munakata raised an eyebrow. “What are the Green King's last wishes?”

Sukuna looked away. “Kotosaka said that Nagare was satisfied in the end, even if he thought it unfortunate. Iwafune-san...” He paused for a moment. “They died and then told me that it was our responsibility to pass on our knowledge, pass on the lessons learned to the next generation.”

Munakata had a feeling that he was referencing the incident with the Slate's Wish. Whatever it was, it had shaken the young man to the core. Then again, it was he who had picked up the remnant piece of the Slate from under their noses and activated the remnant Wish.

“We...we heard of the recent activity that some of the U-rank members were stealing the powers of lower ranks. Hoarding them,” Sukuna flexed a hand, closing it into a fist before opening it. The faint smell of ozone filled the air once more, but no green lightning appeared.

“You do not want that?” Anna prodded gently.

“The things I learned from my King and Iwafune-san, they were not related to the clans or their powers. They were practical knowledge. They were programming code and a card game!” He curled a hand into a fist and squeezed it. This time, there was faint burst of lightning that crawled over Sukuna's knuckles. “I want to get stronger. But was it right that we're to lose our powers forever and then be so...normal?”

“Your King's philosophy was to judge everyone by their own merits. To level the playing field with the Slate's powers,” Munakata stated. “That would have caused a chaos that my clan, that I myself, could never allow.”

“Reisi-”

“However,” he adjusted his glasses slightly, ignoring Anna's quiet warning as he stared at the young Green Clansmen, “it seems to me that by passing along more practical skills, the lesson learned is that these powers, given to us, are quite temporary. Each man is judged by his or her own merit. His or her own internal power, not by how much they could take from one another and horde or use against their own.”

“I know!” Sukuna suddenly shouted before repeating in a quieter voice, “I know.” He glared at him. “You don't have to tell me that, Blue King.”

Munakata snorted quietly, resisting the impulse to throw harsher words or even a rejoinder back at the young clansmen. Sukuna Gojo was _not_ the Green King. He did not deserve the full ire or animosity of the Blue King at the mess they were now cleaning up. He did definitely deserve some of the blame, but Munakata was a firm believer that clansmen were acting on the King's orders and to say otherwise was just plain nonsense. A King controlled their clansmen.

“The U-rank members did not take such requests well, did they?” Anna cut in, a pointed look thrown at Munakata's way. The Blue King certainly did not miss the slight irony of the _Red_ King being the more level-headed and collected one when interactions with the previous king proved otherwise. But then again, perhaps it was like the Red King to be rather calm and collected about the smaller things – at least from Suoh Mikoto and Kushina Anna's reigns.

“Some yes, some no,” Sukuna seemed a little more comfortable answering Anna. “Yukari says he understands why.” He shrugged. “He probably gets it more than I can ever, but he says part of it is like those who had spent real world money on an application that has the ability to purchase items then finding out one can't use it. It's a stupid analogy, but whatever. He says it's better if the other clansmen don't get their points stolen by others.”

“But it can happen in games like that. Points can be transferred from one person to another,” Anna pointed out.

“...Yeah.”

“But you're saying it's not like that?”

“I know the application allows loopholes. Your clansmen proved that really well,” Sukuna flicked a look at him again and seemed on the verge of saying something about Fushimi and his mission before swallowing the impulse before turning back to Anna. Munakata was quite surprised at the restraint. Perhaps he would have to update his evaluation of Gojo Sukuna. “Yukari and Kotosaka think that we should leave the servers in place, let the 'spending' of points slowly die away, like all clansmen and Strains.”

“What do you think?”

“The in-fighting and stealing of points? Who gives a shit. It's the survival of the fittest,” Sukuna replied with a careless shrug. “It's exactly what my King wanted and we expected it of the lower ranks. That's why we figure out who deserves to be J-rank and all.”

Anna folded her hands over her dress and leaned forward a little. “Yet...?”

Sukuna hesitated for a few seconds, silence descending upon the small room. He finally hung his head and all of the fight that had been within him was released. The smell of ozone disappeared just as quickly. “I think we need help...”

“You are not betraying your King's philosophy,” Anna started gently, reaching out to place a small hand on top of Sukuna's. The gesture brought up the young teen's head and he immediately blushed before pulling his hand out from under her's just as quickly. Anna only smiled kindly before sitting back.

Munakata admired the Red King's poise – she was definitely her father's daughter, but also much more. The titles of King could have been seen as just titles, but there was a regal-like air among them Kings themselves that lent an air of mystique. Anna certainly took the charisma and kindness farther than many who had ever held the title of King.

“H-How so?” Sukuna looked fearful for a second, but seemed to marshal his courage in asking such a question.

“Consider that you are asking those you once thought enemies to help. That in a way you may consider us as temporary allies towards your goal; towards your King's philosophy. He appreciated those who were clever and able to utilize all resources for their own gain – to better themselves and level their _own_ playing fields,” Anna replied. It was a very astute answer. “You need not be alone in your battle.”

“I-Is that how, you two...”

“Our Clans are in an alliance that benefits our own goals,” Munakata replied offhandedly.

“You're trying to take down our network,” A fire flared in Sukuna's eyes once more but Munakata only smiled slightly.

“That is the Blue Clan's goal,” he stressed.

“And the Red Clan's goal?” The young man looked back at Anna.

“Ensuring the safety of our Clansmen and of our territory. We have been helping the Blue Clan with some Strain-related incidents that have occurred in Shizume, but nothing more.”

“What about me then? What am I to this...alliance?”

“You are under my protection,” Anna repeated. “I have invited Reisi here under the auspices of sharing information with the Blue Clan.”

Sukuna brow furrowed a little as he fell silent once more.

Munakata uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off from the wall. “Considering based on your King's philosophy. You technically should not mind Sceptre 4 arresting and stopping all Green Clan activities, especially those that threaten public safety. This also applies to the dismantling of the JUNGLE application network and servers. If you truly opposed us and our work, you would not have been quietly sitting here, nor would Mishakuji-shi have found the Black Dog.

“My guess is that besides the information request from Sceptre 4, you know of the bounties that are still on your heads from the Green King's original plans. A hundred-thousand points was the original one on Mishakuji-shi's head. A swordsman and Strain of his caliber should not worry about such a bounty as I am sure he could defend himself, but I have the feeling that the bounties on all of your heads have made you reconsider things.”

“Why should it?” The surliness in Sukuna's voice was back.

“For one information that I will share as an olive branch. You know about the fact that _all_ Clansmen, all Strains are slowly losing their powers.” Munakata did not miss the stiffening of Anna's posture as she sat on the chair. He knew that she knew about the loss of powers by Clansmen, but the information about the Strains was very recent. It had been forwarded in a report by Sakimoto Miyuki this morning.

The teen pursed his lips, glaring at him.

“The U-rank members are stealing the powers of the lower clansmen – still true to the philosophy of the Green King – but you fear that they may rival or somehow find a way to extend their powers. There have been no deaths reported as of right now, but if the requirements of being a J-rank are still active through the JUNGLE network, there may be a U-rank member who will join soon – one who does not know the Green King nor of his wishes. And who may challenge you as your powers wane.”

“I'm not afraid to die,” Sukuna stated.

“Most who declare they are not afraid to die have not actually killed someone,” Munakata adjusted his glasses, pinning the young Green Clansmen with a pointed look. To his credit, Sukuna grimaced and looked away in shame. The young man understood the control and levels of power one wielded to control whether or not someone died or lived if attacked. It was how many of the Clansmen operated. Each Clansmen had the ability to kill when they were inducted as Clansmen, but it varied for those who received their powers directly from the King. However, it was different for for those who used the JUNGLE network; restricted to only J-rank members. U-rank members gained abilities that were based on points that could theoretically grievously harm someone, but not outright kill them at least according to the report from Fushimi.

Munakata studied the young teen for a few seconds before clearing his throat lightly. “It's not wrong to be selfish,” he murmured quietly. “To keep the power for yourself.”

A blush appeared on Sukuna's face as he avoided looking at them.

“Help us help you and your Clan,” Munakata continued.

“I...I just want to keep Nagare's wishes alive. Is...is it selfish of me to want that? That I just want it to be myself, the parrot and Yukari to be the ones left with the actual true power of the Green King? That we're his Clansmen and we'll always be his Clansmen and no one else?”

“No,” Munakata replied, “your reaction is that of every Clan that goes through changes when there is a new King or lack thereof.” It was interesting that he had managed to figure out what Gojo Sukuna was aiming for. In ways, he understood, even if he didn't like it nor was he inclined to acknowledge it. But he understood. If it helped Sceptre 4 achieve their goals then he would see it achieved.

Sukuna nodded absently, his shoulders sagging in relief at the acknowledgment. He took a deep breath, let it out before taking another one. “All right...let me call Yukari. Maybe we can find someway to help.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Kusanagi’s Lighter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662101) by [CaptainTardis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainTardis/pseuds/CaptainTardis)


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